General News
30 January, 2026
Australian Vernacular: Telling it as it is “fair dinkum” with Brian Lennen
Local Brian Lennen returns with an account of Australian slang.
Australians have been rightly accused of butchering the King’s English.
On most occasions “strine” was clever and gave a clear meaning to the language.
Often the speaker was unaware that a particular word or expression added to the language.
Purists are easily confused by the Australian vernacular.
Listening to varied groups I was fascinated to identify many expressions used in conversation that the speaker may be unaware they are using.
“You guys” is used so often that I lost count. One could say it is hackneyed.
The tail-end to many statements is “you know what I mean?”. It implies the speaker is seeking verification of what they have said. It certainly is cringe-worthy!
In Lawson and Paterson’s world, women were referred to as “sheilas”, men as “blokes”. Redheads were referred to as “Bluey” or “Ranga”.
Bluey and Curly epitomised the Australian character and featured as one of Australia’s most popular comic strips.
They were serialised in Australian daily papers for decades.
They featured on the battlefields, on the land and as naive visitors to the “big smoke”.
“Ben Bowyang” set in rural Australia was brilliantly illustrated by Alex Gurney. His favourite expression was “good onya!”. They celebrated the “lucky country”.
It was inspired by C.J. Dennis’ regular column called ‘The Mooch of Life’.
Ben Bowyang was a “bush philosopher” who paraphrased the sentiments of most Australians. He also had a distrust of the “bull” and was constantly bailed up by his or his neighbour’s bovine.
After Gurney’s passing, the strip was continued by Peter Russell Clark in The Herald.
Clarke, the bearded chef, was one of the first TV chefs. “Come and get it!” was his favourite expression.
Terms such as “drongo”, “dinkum”, “gidday”, “blimey”, “mongrel”, “bludger” and many others you would be aware of were commonly in use.
The back page of The Herald Sun also featured the character “Little Sport”. He gave a humourous insight into Australia’s obsession with sport.
The Pott’s family were much loved and participated in popular activities.
Their strip featured the Melbourne Olympics, the Melbourne Cup and daily occurrences in the life of the average Australian.
All of the above and others had a particular slant. The authors had the Australian trait of taking the “mickey” out of those who had become “too big for their boots!”.
They detested the “Collins Street farmers” or anyone who was a “show pony” and they extolled the virtues of the battler.
Bob, the barber, was a conveyor of anything happening locally. He nearly always used the expression “gee willie wiz!”. He disliked being “kept in the dark”.
If he was busy cutting hair, trimming a beard, shaving or just busy, his response was “I am flat out like a lizard drinking!” or “I’m running about like a headless chook!”.
His son, his permanent apprentice even though he was in his 50s, was in his words “a chip off the old block”.
The coach of the local football team was a “loveable larrikin”. On the field he was “as mad as a cut snake” or “a hard nut”.
Ginger Meggs and his mates were created by Jim Bancks in 1921. Meggs was Australia’s longest running comic strip character. The cartoon survived for 102 years. Most episodes featured his nemesis Eddie Coogan.
Bancks was succeeded by a number of other authors on his passing. Ginger’s relationship with his girlfriend Minnie Peters was innocent. Much like Australia’s emergence in world affairs.